Heroines Past
Anna Atkins 1799-1871
British Photographer
Anna Atkins was the first person to create a book made entirely from photographic images and is widely acclaimed for her use of cyanotypes in the study of British algae. Between 1843 and 1853, Anna produced three volumes of cyanotypes titled ‘Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions’, which served as a scientific guide to British algae. Seventeen copies are thought to have been produced, however, as they were individually made, and bound by the recipient, many remaining volumes have omissions or duplicates. It is believed that these volumes originally heled 14 pages of text and 389 pages of algae.
Virginia Oldoïni, countess of Castiglione (1837-1899)
Italian Photographic Artist
Born in Italy to an aristocratic family, Virginia Oldoïni, was soon notorious across Europe. At seventeen she was forced to marry a man she did not love. Two years later she went to Paris with the intention of wooing the then emperor of France, Napoleon III. Under her direction he would pick up the cause of Italian unification. She shocked the French court with her beauty, extravagance, and audacity. She was and would remain an important fixture of Parisian high society. Her liaison with the emperor was as sensational as it was brief and caused, perhaps intentionally, the end of her unhappy marriage.
Marie Høeg 1866 – 1949
A prominent member of the Norwegian feminist movement in Horton, Marie Høeg along with partner Bolette Berg, experimented with gender identity and performance. On International Women’s Day 2022, a group of empowering women in Gloucester had dinner together. They wore Marie Høeg masks in response to an event score created by Dorothee Richter of Small Coming Communities.
Hannah Höch (1889 – 1978)
From being the only woman associated with the Berlin Dada movement to evolving her craft for more than half a decade, Hannah Höch created photomontages that commented on politics, gender roles and popular culture.
Born in Gotha Germany, Höch began her studies at the School of Applied Arts in Berlin-Charlottenburg in 1912. Although her training was interrupted by the outbreak of World War 1, in 1915 she returned to the school to focus her artistry in painting and graphic design.
Heroines Present
Mónica Alcázar-Duarte
Mónica Alcázar-Duarte is a Mexican-British multi-disciplinary visual artist whose work acknowledges her indigenous heritage while exploring current ideals of progress. She embraces themes related to science and technology and their influence over society and the natural world. In her projects she mixes images and new technologies, such as Augmented Reality, to create multi-layered work, producing meaning through seemingly disconnected narratives. Mónica’s work confronts our obsession with speed and infinite growth on a planet crying out for us to slow down. Her work has been exhibited and collected throughout Europe, Mexico and the United States.
Her installation is currently on display at Jolt studios – extended until April 30th. Visit us in Gloucester to enjoy the full experience.
Ellen Carey
Ellen’s practice is strongly conceptual, referencing three centuries of photographic process – zerogram, colour and digitalization. Her images do not reveal the subject or the object, but evoke meaning by privileging depictions of process. To create innovative works like Crush & Pull, Ellen works with Polaroid methods, pulling light-sensitive paper down from the camera and merging the patina of crushed negatives with glossy receiving paper. Her images express sensory vitality, often changing over time as the paper oxidises.
Zerogram 003 (2019) © Ellen Carey, courtesy the artist and Hundred Heroines collection, Gloucester.
© Jane Hilton
Jane Hilton
Photographer and film-maker. One of her best known documentaries is the work (films and images) of the working girls in Nevada’s legal brothels.
“A gift from Burlesque legend “Satan Angel”, famous for setting fire to her nipple tassels and twirling them around to put the fire out. I photographed her at her home in Palm Springs, aged 71 and still working. She hand-made me my very own set of ‘western’ nipple tassels.”
Jane has donated these tassels to the Hundred Heroines collection. Find out more about Jane Hilton. Find out more about our growing collection.
Guerrilla Girls
The Guerrilla Girls are anonymous artist activists who use disruptive headlines, outrageous visuals and killer statistics to expose gender and ethnic bias and corruption in art, film, politics and pop culture. They believe in an intersectional feminism that fights for human rights for all people and all genders. They undermine the idea of a mainstream narrative by revealing the understory, the subtext, the overlooked, and the downright unfair. They have done hundreds of projects (street posters, banners, actions, books, and videos) all over the world.
Yan Wang Preston
Dr. Yan Wang Preston (b. 1976) grew up in Henan Province, China, moving to Shanghai at the age of 18 to study medicine.
This book was the genesis of one of her most prominent works, the documentary series Mother River. Over a period of four years (2010-2014), Yan travelled the entire 6,211km length of the Yangtze River, exploring the connection between China’s topography and identity. According to the careful design of her project, Yan captured an image every 100km; these restrictions forced her to avoid several of the river’s ‘beauty spots’, enabling her to create a detailed, nuanced portrait of the Yangtze which challenges its conventional image.
Heroines Future
100 x 100: 100 Inspirational Gloucester Women by 100 Women Photographers
Hundred Heroines and the Museum of Gloucester are looking for 100 Gloucester Heroines and we need your help!
From the front-line workers who have kept us going during the pandemic, to The Rt Revd Rachel Treweek – the 41st bishop of the city and the first woman to serve as a diocesan bishop in the Church of England – women in Gloucester have proven, on countless occasions, their indomitable, pioneering spirit.
Glostorama!
With Glostorama! you have the chance to be a part of documenting the city through photography while meeting new friends along the journey.
We are looking for enthusiastic individuals and organisations to join us in creating the archive. The result of Glostorama! won’t just be views of streets, but an eclectic mix of details, urban landscapes, people, wildlife and anything else people want to photograph.
Making Collage
And the Heroines (and Heroes!) of tomorrow …
